UPDATE - Hungary farm gate price rise slows to 25% in July

Farm gate prices in Hungary rose 24.9% yr/yr in July, slowing from a 35.3% increase in June, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said on Monday.

July crops prices were 32.3% higher than twelve months earlier, and livestock and animal products prices were up 11.4%, both rising less than the respective increases registered in June.

The slower rise of crop prices was helped by a 30.9% yr/yr drop in potato prices and a 25.5% decline in vegetable prices, both coming after sharp yr/yr increases in July 2010.

January-July farm gate prices were up 35.4% yr/yr, as crop prices rose 47.6% and livestock and animal products prices rose 14.7% in the period.

Farm gate prices fell year-on-year until June 2010 before starting to rise at a double-digit pace in July 2010.

In a breakdown by crop type, farm gate prices of cereals, including seeds, were 55.7% more expensive in July than a year earlier. The increase was moderate compared to rises in the previous months, when prices more than doubled in February and March and price rises ranged between 76.8% and 87.6% in April-June.

Industrial crop prices were up 26.2%, including a 35.4% rise in oil seed prices, both increase accelerating from the previous month, while potato prices fell 30.9% after dropping 8.0% in June. Up to May potato prices were well over their level one year earlier.

Fruit prices rose 16.2%, slowing down from a 27.9% increase in June. In contrast, prices of fresh vegetables were down yr/yr for the third month in a row, and drop widened to 25.5% in July.

Among livestock and animal product prices, prices in most product groups rose less than in the previous month. The price of cattle for slaughter rose 27.9% in the twelve months to July, the price of live hogs increased 0.8%. Poultry prices were up 18.2% and milk prices climbed 21.0%. Fresh egg prices dropped 4.9% from a year earlier, falling less than the 5.9% registered in June.

In January-July, crop prices rose 47.6% and livestock and animal product prices were up 14.7% from a year earlier.